Manchester City have reportedly table a staggering €67 million bid to sign Sergio Busquets from Barcelona next summer.
According to a report by Spanish publication Don Balon, Sergio Busquets is the subject of interest from Manchester City, with Pep Guardiola eager to bolster his side further. The Citizens have put a €67 million offer on the table for the Barcelona midfielder, with a view to sign him next summer.
Busquets is widely regarded as one of the best defensive midfielders of all time, if not the finest, having been an instrumental figure for Barcelona for the better part of the last decade. The player, for the longest part, had forged a formidable trio with Xavi and Andres Iniesta that guided the Blaugrana to unprecedented success.
Over his near 10-year senior career, Busquets has laid his hands on every trophy there is to lift for club and country, winning an astonishing 27 titles, while racking up over 400 appearances for Barcelona in addition to 102 for Spain. And after a slightly underwhelming 2016-17 season, the 29-year-old seems to be back to his best in the current campaign.
Having been one of the cornerstones of the success that Barcelona have achieved in one of their best eras, it goes without saying that just about every club could do with a player of the calibre of Busquets, especially in his peak.
Manchester City are set to try their luck in pursuit of the Spain international, having followed him for a long time.
I don’t think there is another player in the world that would do what Busquets did, 20 yards from his own goal, and then start a move to create a goal. pic.twitter.com/hCkFZoTeZm
— WM Formation (@TheWMformation) December 24, 2017
The Citizens look primed for plenty of success this season as Pep Guardiola’s ways seem to be having their desired effect. City have already thrashed the record points haul at the midway stage of a Premier League season, while also boasting the longest winning streak in the competition’s history.
But, Guardiola believes he can do even better. With that in mind, the Manchester City boss has launched an assault for Busquets, one of the many talents he is known for grooming into world beating players.
While the runaway Premier League leaders already have the consistent Fernandinho in their ranks, the Brazilian is on the wrong side of 30, and Busquets would undoubtedly be an upgrade at the heart of midfield.
City have, thus, tabled a €67 million bid for the Barcelona man, although they will have to raise their offer for their La Liga counterparts to even consider it. Busquets has a €200 million buyout clause in his contract at Camp Nou, and an offer near that figure might just get them to entertain the Citizens.
Even then, it might be a tall order luring the player, with Guardiola perhaps the only factor that might be able to get the deal to see the light of the day. It now remains to be seen if Manchester City succeed in their pursuit of Busquets.